


wish

by sunfish



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baking, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 13:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9823490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunfish/pseuds/sunfish
Summary: A hypothetical take on a much nicer world.For the geassvalentines2017 exchange for snowystarguardian.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArianaXaia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArianaXaia/gifts).



> Ah, this is my first time writing Code Geass fic so I'm a bit nervous.
> 
> I deeply apologize to snowystarguardian for my lateness as it sort of spiraled out of control and I didn't realize how much time it was going to take as I was writing it. Please forgive me and I hope you enjoy it! The listed prompts were "Domestic," "Happiness, and "AUs" so I tried to kind of shoot for all three though it remains fairly true to canon in terms of setting and relationships, but much, much lighter. I also hope the implied Suzaku/Lelouch is okay as having it be an underlying, still developing element worked better for this fic I think.
> 
> Also there are other characters, even speaking characters, besides the tagged three but they're fairly minor so I figured tagging them wouldn't be worthwhile.

“A part-time job? What do you need that for?” Lelouch asked, genuinely confused.

It was not a secret that the great majority of students at Ashford-Sumeragi International Academy (usually referred to as ASIA or just Ashford-Sumeragi) were wealthy. Most were either the relatives of well-salaried diplomats or funded by generous scholarships, so personal finances were often barely an afterthought. Rivalz was not an anomaly.

“Well y’know, I heard that girls love a guy with a job and especially one that involves cooking,” Rivalz said with a smile. “Sort of a way to show off your feminine side. Besides, girls also  _ love _ sweets.”

As always, by “girls” he meant Milly.

And Milly  _ did _ love sweets.

Lelouch chuckled.

“Do you have any experience in baking?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing very well that no matter what the answer was, Rivalz wouldn’t budge from his plan.

“Well, this place is new so they’re okay with hiring people who aren’t fancy professionals. They just need some extra hands. Anyway, it’s not like I’m a total newbie with this stuff. We always do a bake sale for charity every semester, right?” Rivalz asked, though it was not a real question.

Lelouch could have mentioned that while Rivalz was not the worst cook of the student council (excluding Nunnally, that was Shirley), he was certainly not the best (that was Lelouch). He could have also mentioned that baking in a professional setting would have a steep learning curve for an teenager with only moderate physical strength and who maybe baked about once every four months. He could have also mentioned that Milly was not interested in boys.

But he did not.

Lelouch chuckled and answered, “Yes, we do.”

 

* * *

It was almost evening and Nunnally was not home yet.

She had told Lelouch that she, Kaguya, Tianzi, and Sayoko were going to visit Rivalz at his new job since class ended early for them. She also loved sweets. Nunnally had promised that she would call him if anything came up. And Sayoko had promised that she would call him if anything came up.

Summer cooling into autumn meant that the sun had not set yet but was about to. The lingering light tempered his anxiety. Still, the irregular quiet of his home unnerved him. His life here with his sister and Sayoko was not a noisy one but there were worlds between the silence of safety and the silence of uncertainty.

Things were good now. Being at Ashford-Sumeragi was good. Nothing was life or death here but old habits were hard to shake.

Though before Lelouch could dwell on that point of thought for too long, there was the click of an opening door and the roll of wheels entering the room.

“Hello, Lelouch,” Sayoko said. “I’m sorry we’re a bit late.”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t too worried,” he said, walking towards them.

“Big brother!” Nunnally held out her arms.

Looking at her face, she seemed…brighter. Nunnally’s smile was always a star in his life but this was a sun. Sayoko’s face held an accompanying smile too, smaller but clearly matching his sister’s.

“Nunnally,” Lelouch said as he embraced her in return. “I’m glad to see you had fun.”

They parted but Lelouch stayed kneeling down to face her. Nunnally gestured as she spoke, brimming with excitement .

“We did! Rivalz was busy so we couldn’t talk with him much but he said ‘hi’ to us. He sounded really tired,” She giggled.

Lelouch chuckled too as he had also seen the toll of the physical labor from the job the entire week. He always insisted, “I’m fine. It’s just the first few days. Soon I’ll build more muscle!” However, for now, he had fallen to almost Lelouch-levels of stamina and strength in PE class.

“At first we were worried about my chair being able to fit inside since it’s pretty small and they only had stairs but it worked out,” Nunnally continued, “A really nice employee helped me in and said they would try to get a ramp built soon, it’s just that the building’s old. He also said they would get some menus printed with braille too. He offered to read it out loud to me but that would’ve been too much since I had my friends with me anyway.”

“Ah, well that’s really kind of him then,” Lelouch commented. Truthfully, he doubted the sincerity of some grunt worker, however nice he was. It was a new business and they needed any customer, and good word of mouth, they could get. Even if he really had meant it, that wasn’t a guarantee of anything. Depending on if she wanted to keep visiting that place on a regular basis then he would eventually have to check in and make sure that they would—

“Oh, but the best part was the food!” Nunnally gushed. “We ordered a bunch of things. Some petit fours, small bundt cakes, and macarons. And they had hot chocolate too. It was all  _ so _ good!”

Sayoko nodded in agreement with her review of the bakery so far. “It’s true, the quality of the pastries was very high.”

“That’s wonderful to hear then. I’m happy you both enjoyed it so much.”

Nunnally placed her hand over her brother’s in excitement, as if to pull him closer to say something special.

“It was even better than  _ your _ baking, big brother!”

Lelouch’s eyes widened, but only by a fraction. (He was grateful Nunnally could not notice this.)

It would be overdramatic to say his heart sunk like an anchor cut from its ship or that his mind froze like it had stumbled upon an exam question that it couldn’t answer, even if just for a moment. Lelouch was not one for emotional metaphors. It was such a small thing regardless. He was just—Surprised. That’s all.

He smiled.

“Oh really?” he asked, soft as he could.

“Yes.” Nunnally nodded. “I was surprised too because your cooking is usually the best, but it’s true.” She grasped his hand and smiled even brighter as she told him, “You should come with me sometime.”

 

* * *

The place was a bit of a distance to travel for. The roads led just outside of the suburban areas of the city, where taller grass and wildflowers began to encroach the roads. Still, there was a shopping area with cute stores and attractions lining the sidewalk, only less packed together compared to the more metropolitan districts near campus.

Stepping out of the taxi, Lelouch noted that the place was…quaint. Almost “straight out of a vintage picture book” level of quaint. Nestled between bushes of purple and indigo hydrangea was a small shopfront, painted in a soft yellow. Windows displayed rows of bread loaves, pastries, and other delicate confections. The sign above the door read “La Table Ronde” in careful, white calligraphy. Some chattering customers with parasols and tea cups basked in the gentle sunlight of the day.

And against the doorstep was a fitted ramp.

“Nunnally, they put in the ramp,”

She clapped her hands together. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I didn’t think they would do it so soon.”

Lelouch nodded. “I’m surprised too, but glad.”

Only a few days had passed since Nunnally had first visited here with her other friends.

This time, she had told Sayoko to stay home, that as long as her big brother was with her, they would be fine. In fact, Nunnally had carved out a specific time and date to go, somehow finding a generous slice of leisure time in his regimented schedule, just him and her. Not even Rivalz would be there as he didn’t have a shift scheduled for that day.

“You can’t make any other plans that day, big brother.”

“Okay, fine. I won’t, I promise.”

“That has to be a real promise, I mean it,” Nunnally had said with a huff. It was a cute huff but an oddly stern one. “No last minute student council duties, as an honorary student council member.” She stuck out her pinky towards Lelouch.

Really, as an “honorary student council member” she had no power over the council members or their student activities in any official capacity, but he would never insist on something like that with her, and certainly not anything as low stakes as this conversation. Besides, she knew that, and she knew that he knew that. So Lelouch had laughed and completed the pinky promise, and now here they were.

He walked just slightly ahead of her, opening the door so her pathway inside would be clear and smooth. Stepping to the side of the doorway he glanced around.

The scent of fresh bread and tea permeated the air. A big, shining display case that contained even more pastries caught Lelouch’s eye first before he scanned the rest of the establishment. It was moderately packed, producing an expected noise level. One person was in line with about half of the tables occupied. Light came in from the clear, wide windows that lined the walls. A cashier, someone tall and blond (aka. not Rivalz), was the only one visible behind the counter, taking orders. He knew he had a shift scheduled around this time so maybe they would catch him soon.

Lelouch began to look around for a free, clean table with enough space around it to accommodate Nunnally’s wheelchair when someone addressed them.

“Oh! Hey, Nunnally, you’re here!”

It was the cashier. He waved excitedly.

Nunnally perked up and smiled in return. “Hi, Gino.”

Lelouch squinted.

Gino seemed to register her brother looking at him but remained unbothered as he stepped away from the register and walked towards them cheerfully. In the time it took for Gino to reach them, Lelouch racked his brain any point or information about this stranger, and his familiarity with Nunnally.

_ “A really nice employee helped me in and said they would try to get a ramp built soon, it’s just that the building’s old.” _

Ah, right.

As he came closer, he waved to Lelouch as well. “You’re Lelouch, her big brother, right?”

Lelouch nodded. “…Yes. Yes, I am.” He stuck out his hand. “I don’t think I know who you are though.”

He laughed and shook the other’s hand. “I guess Nunnally didn’t tell you about me since you don’t look like you do. Well, I’m Gino and I met her a few days ago during my shift. She told us about you—Well, actually, Nunnally and—”

“Gino,” she interrupted, with finger over her lips, “Don’t ruin it.”

At this, Lelouch’s gaze turned to her. His mouth tightened into a flat line and his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Don’t ruin what?”

She and Gino simply laughed.

“Right, sorry! I forgot,” Gino said, jokingly smacking himself in the head.

Something akin to fear shivered up Lelouch’s spine.

Gino glanced around and then pointed to a table and chair propped up against a corner wall but right next a window. “I think that would a nice place to sit. Just let me know what you want and I’ll have someone bring it over.”

And he was right. The sunlight warmed the table and there was a enough room for Nunnally to comfortably not bump into anything.

Once they were settled, Lelouch leaned towards Nunnally.

“Is there something you would like to tell me, Nunnally?”

She shook her head. “No, big brother.”

“Are you sure?”

She stretched out her hands across the table, palms up.

“Trust me,” she said with a small smile.

He sighed. He places his hands in hers.

“Okay.”

Nunnally hummed. “Could you do me one more favor, big brother?”

“Of course.”

“Close your eyes. I’ll tell you when to open them.”

Lelouch grimaced at this. But he had already said he trusted her so he did, hands still in hers.

His mind came up with a hundred questions to ask his little sister but he simply let them bounce around as the background noises of the bakery seemed to both sharpen and blur in his ears.

Silverware clattered against plates. Cups being placed on the tables. Talk about the weather, dates, pets. Eating. Chewing. Footsteps.

Lelouch tried not to count the minutes that by but he didn’t get particularly far (almost four) when he noticed the sound of someone approaching them, then seconds later, his sister’s hands pulling away from his and a small tap on his wrist.

“You can look now.”

He opened his eyes.

Oh.

He couldn’t tell what expression his face was making at that moment. There was a lot to take in, besides that it was his childhood friend, his other best friend, his old friend that he hadn’t seen or heard from in years and years, standing right there, in the flesh. Green eyes. A black apron covered in smudges of flour. Muscle. A plate of pastries in one hand and a pot of tea in the other. His smile.

In a single second, Lelouch remembered sunflowers and warm rain and secret hideouts and the kind of promises ten year olds make with each other when “forever” lasts as long as a single summer vacation and returned letters. He remembered growing up without him and how he and Nunnally had turned out okay. And he thought that, obviously, then he must’ve turned out okay too, if he was here.

But still, it was as if everything was right again.

The other boy smiled as he put down what was in his hands. “It’s good to see you, Lelouch.”

And Lelouch smiled in return. “It’s good to see you too, Suzaku. It’s been a long time.”

He turned to Nunnally, who sat there with her hands clasped together and a smile oozing with delight.

“I assume this was that ‘nice employee’ you mentioned.”

Nunnally smiled wider. “I thought this would be a good surprise. Wasn’t it, big brother?”

Lelouch chuckled. “Well, I can’t argue with that. I still don’t like you keeping secrets like that though.”

“But that would’ve ruined it! I don’t get to surprise you very often, big brother.”

“That’s true too.”

Lelouch turned to Suzaku. “Do you have time to sit down or are you still working?”

“Yeah, my shift lasts ‘til closing, but I’m actually on my lunch right now so I do have some time.” He pulled up a chair and sat between the two of them. “Oh, drink your tea before it gets cold.”

He and Lelouch reached for the teapot at the same time but thankfully, nothing was knocked over. Instead, for a moment, Lelouch noted how Suzaku’s fingers felt warm and dry (from the constant contact with flour and soap, he supposed) before self-consciousness seeped in and he quickly pulled his hands back.

He folded his fingers together, keeping them locked tight.

Suzaku laughed. “I’m the one who works here. You don’t have to do everything because you think you can, like I assume you still do.” He poured the tea into their cups, carefully.

“I do not.”

“You do, or at least you did. You’ve always been like this.” He turned to Nunnally. “Am I wrong?”

She only giggled.

Lelouch could have argued more, bicker some more, but there were other more pressing things, so he simply faked a cough. A white flag.

He sipped his tea. “So, how have you been? Have you always lived here?” he asked softly. He treaded delicately.

“Well, no,” Suzaku answered with a sigh. “None of my extended family could take me in at the time so I was in limbo for a bit. Nunnally told me about how you guys tried to contact me but couldn’t and…that’s probably why. I ended up at a military school for a while because no one knew what else to do with me.” Suzaku shrugged casually. “There were other more important things that needed to be taken care of when my father died.” 

And like that, Lelouch’s stomach churned with indignance. Only years down the line had he and Nunnally truly realized the international chaos triggered by that plane crash. Summer friends falling out of contact was an easy consequence. Of course this must have rippled throughout Suzaku’s family, both personally and professionally, a political powerhouse similar to Lelouch’s. Still, that was no excuse for when family became more inconvenient than useful.

He knew that well.

“I was alright though. The people there were good to me. But Kaguya found me a while ago and got me to come here. I guess now that she’s older she’s able pull some strings.”

Lelouch remembered, Nunnally asking her about Suzaku once, upon finding out that Kaguya was related to him. However she had been younger then and though she once knew him too, she didn’t know much else. But he also knew of Kaguya’s drive and abilities when she really wanted something, particularly, when it came to someone being wronged. Thankfully, she was a good-hearted person. Lelouch supposed that he would have to thank her personally at some point.

“Honestly I wanted to stay but…” Suzaku seemed to chew on his words, deciding what tasted right. “She said she knew you two.” He looked away, as if embarrassed.

Nunnally reached out to him, placing a hand over his. His face held a smile but it was small and tight.

Lelouch wanted to protest the anxious pause, disprove it with the million things he had on his mind, but Suzaku broke it first.

“Anyway, I’ve only been here a couple of weeks now and I kind of stumbled into this place. She said that later I should attend the school she goes to since I had good grades and I’m only a few credits short of a diploma, but I don’t know. Working here has been nice.”

Lelouch took another sip of his tea.

_ You didn’t deserve that. _

_ Where exactly do you live? _

_ Did you ever make any other friends? _

_ Finish your education. Come to school with us. _

_ What are your plans for your future? What do you want to do with your life? _

_ I missed you. _

Lelouch decided on simply, “We’re glad you’re here now.”

Suzaku blinked, almost surprised, and then smiled.

“Me too.”

 

* * *

They started coming by at least twice a week. Sometimes others, like Milly and Shirley, or Kaguya and Tianzi, would tag along. Sometimes they would see Rivalz when he was scheduled, hauling around apple tarts and bread rolls and dirty dishes.

Suzaku always took his lunch breaks when they walked through the door and would already have something made for them. Melonpan, petite madeleines, saffron buns. In return, Lelouch and Nunnally would always ask him to visit for dinner afterward but he had yet to say accept the invitation.

Today it was coffee cake with strawberries.

“So what’s the thing you’re best at making?” Lelouch asked over another cup of tea.

Suzaku blinked, surprised by the question. “Hm…I think…bread.”

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that.” Lelouch pointed aimlessly to a wall. “There’s at least seven types of bread on this shelf alone.”

Suzaku rolled his eyes. “You act like this is an exam.”

“Well your answer wasn’t very informative.”

“What do you like about making bread, Suzaku?” Nunnally asked as she cut into her plate of cake.

Suzaku mulled over this question too. “I like…kneading the dough. Cutting it up. Using my hands is nice. It’s different from the training I got at military school but it’s still very physical. I think it’s fun in that way.”

Lelouch couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Suzaku was always the most energetic of the three so he wasn’t surprised by his answer, but that didn’t mean he could relate to it.

“Pastries are harder. They require more of a careful and artistic eye, which i don’t really have. Lelouch would probably be good at it.”

Nunnally clapped her hands together. “Big brother does make some wonderful cakes! I can’t see the frosting decorations but all of the student council members always compliment him for how pretty they are.”

Lelouch waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s nothing really. I just go by the book. As long as you have the right supplies and pay attention, it’s not that hard.”

“Of course you’d say that.”

“That’s because it’s true.”

Suzaku laughed.

“And what about you two?” Suzaku asked.

“Oh, what about us?” Nunnally replied.

“What do you like the most about the student council?”

Lelouch quietly sipped his tea while Nunnally tapped her fork against her lips, thinking it over.

“It occupies my time,” Lelouch answered.

Suzaku made a face and laughed again. “And you’re telling me off for having vague answers.”

“It’s the truth. I don’t need a job and since I live on campus I might as well do something with my free time.”

“I like being able to help the school. We put on a lot of activities and even though I’m not a full member, I’ve been allowed to participate in everything I can. Plus, I’ve made such wonderful friends there.”

Suzaku turned to Lelouch. “Does that go the same for you?”

“I suppose so. Repaying back my scholarship in this way feels appropriate. And they are good people.” He paused. “I’ve had good luck.”

And he did. For being a pair of children neglected by their parents, everything still seemed to fall into place for them in the end. The Ashford sponsorship. The student council. And now Suzaku. They had a life most would envy and Lelouch treasured it much more than he even let himself acknowledge.

Hearing Lelouch’s answer, Suzaku’s gaze seemed to drift off.

“Is something wrong?” Lelouch asked.

His attention snapped back to them. “No, I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

“I think I need to head back though. We have a wedding cake to prepare actually.” He smiled but it struck Lelouch as rushed and not quite all there.

And as always, this time from Nunnally, “Would you come to dinner tonight?”

Suzaku shrugged as he stood up. “No, maybe later. I’ll probably be too tired to be a good guest.” He turned towards the kitchen. “I’ll see you later, right?”

“Right.”

Feeling the growing pit of something unpleasant in his stomach, like panic, or anxiety, or  _ something _ , Lelouch called out after him. “Suzaku!”

Suzaku nearly flinched from the volume in Lelouch’s voice. In fact, a number of patrons shifted their eyes towards him.

Nunnally tugged on the sleeve of Lelouch’s shirt. “Big brother, what’s wrong?”

Lelouch gave a small cough into his fist and faced his younger sister. “Nothing, it’s—I apologize. I only,” he sighed and turned back to Suzaku, “I wanted to,” he paused, “invite you to lunch instead. You mentioned you had tomorrow off.”

Suzaku cocked an eyebrow and gave a smile tinted with confusion. “That’s it?”

“Yes, I—I didn’t want to forget. And you keep turning us down for dinner. To be quite frank, it’s pretty irritating and impolite.” Lelouch huffed, just a bit. “So I thought lunch might be more convenient for you.”

Suzaku sighed in mock resignation. “Fine. I’ll do lunch, but later.”

“No, tomorrow,” Lelouch insisted. Usually he was a bit more patient, a bit more tactical than this. Brute force wasn’t a skill of his. Truth be told, if he gave it a bit more thought, Lelouch wasn’t sure what he was asking for, besides more than thirty minutes at a time with him. Maybe that really was the only thing he wanted.

“Please.”

Suzaku looked at Lelouch, almost as if caught in a trap, and then gave a short laugh. “Okay, fine. Just don’t yell again.”

But it worked.

And so he turned and disappeared behind the kitchen doors.

Only an hour later while preparing dinner, did Lelouch realize he hadn’t told Suzaku a specific time for him to come over. Or how exactly to get to their dormitory.

Thank God for texting.

 

* * *

Suzaku, thankfully, did show up.

“You have a whole dining room in here?” 

“Well, yes,” Lelouch said. “This was once an on-campus residence site for a faculty member’s family to stay but it’s been modified a bit to allow me, Nunnally, and Sayoko to live together since the standard student dorms would be too small. Mostly though, there are are some teachers live in places like these. Others commute.”

Suzaku nodded slowly. “I see.”

“What about where you live?”

“I live a few blocks away from La Table in an apartment with my cat.”

“Oh, you have a cat?” Nunnally asked. “What his name?”

“Arthur. He already had a collar but I haven’t seen anything looking for him. I just kind of…found him near my door about week ago?”

“Found him? Are you sure he’s safe to keep?” Lelouch asked. 

“Yeah, I brought him to the vet when he started coming by and they said he was good, already fixed even. Though he still kind of just comes and goes whenever he pleases and sometimes he bites me. But he’s good company and fun to play with.”

“Well…it’s good you’re not completely alone then,” Lelouch remarked absentmindedly.

“Why’s that?” Suzaku asked with a chuckle.

Lelouch blinked, not expecting to have to articulate an answer.

_ Because you shouldn’t still be alone now that you’re here. _

“It’s always safer to have some kind of companion or roommate around, just in case something happens.” Lelouch threw a quick glance at Nunnally. “Though a pet can work too if they’re loud enough.”

Suzaku nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense.”

“If it’s possible, I’d love to come over,” Nunnally said. “I’m sure big brother would too.”

“That…” Suzaku’s words seemed stuck somewhere, either in his throat or his chest, if Lelouch had to guess. “…That would be nice.”

“Next time we come over to visit you then. Maybe at the end of your shift?” Nunnally suggested.

Suzaku scratched the back of his neck and twisted his gaze away, almost now, shy and reluctant. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

Lelouch’s mouth tightened. He liked to think that he could understand the intentions and feelings of his friend, a dear friend, but this was frustrating. He thought of a memory where Suzaku, a fiery ten year old, yelled at him for being too much with his words, for confusing him.

But the irony was not worth savoring.

However Nunnally nodded, as if she couldn’t hear the waver in his voice. “We’ll see then.”

She then took Suzaku’s hand and asked, “Have you ever tried Lelouch’s cooking? He and Sayoko made some tea sandwiches.”

He shook his head. “I haven’t.”

“Well there’s a first time for anything,” she said, almost like a song.

They ate in a dining room which had never felt cold to Lelouch, but suddenly felt much warmer.

 

* * *

It was still difficult to get him to come over again, or to visit his apartment. Not in a meany, cold way, just simply, as it was.

But Nunnally’s birthday was tomorrow, which led to the obvious request to Suzaku help make a cake from scratch with him as a surprise. Suzaku easily yielded to these sort of ideas.

The campus had a nicely sized kitchen for students to use and since Lelouch was  _ the _ student council vice president, well, it wasn’t a problem for his purposes. Meanwhile, Nunnally was out in the city with her friends and Sayoko for the day, the entire day, and purposefully so. Collaborating with Kaguya and Tianzi had been easy enough.

Suzaku whisked the batter while Lelouch prepared the baking pans and made the whipped cream frosting. There were also marzipan decorations to be made.

Lelouch hadn’t notice it at first and didn’t notice it for a while, being swept into how easy it was to move around and with each other. Bumping elbows wasn’t an issue somehow. Even with Suzaku asking question like where the teaspoons were or where he could throw away the strawberry stems, it never felt like a guest was present. Lelouch would ask for a specific knife and Suzaku would hand it to him without a single fumble of looking for it. Suzaku would grab for a towel to wipe his hands with that Lelouch had already set besides him.

But eventually, once the pans of cake batter were in the oven and the dishes were washed and all there was left for the moment was to wait, Lelouch realized, fully, that they were alone.

His heart didn’t pound exactly but instead buzzed. Vibrations of,  _ a feeling _ .

And a question.

“Suzaku.”

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to ask you something.”

Suzaku leaned against the kitchen counter. “What is it?”

Lelouch looked down and then back up at him. “Is something wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re…more difficult to read these days, compared to back then.”

Suzaku gave him a puzzled look. “Well, it’s not like people don’t change in seven years. I mean, look at you.”

“What about me?”

Lelouch sighed. “Of course they do but that doesn’t mean you need to push people away.”

Suzaku blinked. “When have I ever pushed you away?”

That was when Lelouch realized how horribly petty “When you won’t let us visit your apartment and see your cat” would sound.

“You,” Lelouch started but then stopped.

Suzaku looked at him with a questioning eye. “I, what?”

Lelouch rubbed his temple. “I’ll think of it in a second.” He looked at the timer on the counter. “We should pull the cake out of the oven soon.”

And so they did Lelouch, as he carefully placed a heart-shaped layer on a cooling rack, said “Maybe you’re right and I’m being unfair. We haven’t talked in years and now you have a different life. We all do.”

“You’re telling me,” Suzaku said as he filled another heart-shaped pan with batter. “You never got along with anyone but Nunnally and now you’re on the student council and everyone loves you like a king.”

Lelouch grimaced. “I’m only vice president. Besides, you weren’t that charming back then either. You got into too many fights because you didn’t know when to back down.”

“Because you started most of them.”

“Because I was right.”

There’s a beat of mutual silence. And then mutual laughter. It barely lasted a moment but lightness spread throughout Lelouch’s chest, like clouds parting to reveal sunshine.

Suzaku took the pan and placed in the oven while Lelouch set the timer again.

Lelouch looked at Suzaku when he wasn’t looking back, and feeling his heart crawl up his throat, then admitted, “I miss you. That’s all.”

Suzaku faced him and sighed. “I miss you too. You’re just,” he shrugged, “different now. I know I was the one who came here to find you but…I’m not sure if I should’ve done that.”

Lelouch stared at him. “Why would you think that?”

“You’re not a summer brat anymore. You have more than Nunnally now. Though, she seems really happy too. You’re both doing…good.”

Lelouch could read between the lines. His gut twisted. “Don’t say it like that.”

Suzaku gave a small grin. “But it’s the truth, isn’t it? You already have a life and I’m just sort of here figuring stuff out. I’ve gotten a lot of help from Kaguya so this—Maybe this isn’t great timing.”

Lelouch moved closer to him. “That’s why I’m glad you’re here. That’s what friends are for.”

His heart buzzed and trembled again. His own words seemed to rattle and crack the moment he spoke them, like a cheap toy. There were mountains and oceans he wanted to express, some with depths he couldn’t even see at the moment, but once again, he settled on simple sentiments.

“You’re not a burden.”

Suzaku didn’t respond, didn’t look back at Lelouch. He leaned back against the counter.

“It’s the truth.”

Suzaku fidgeted. He seemed to taste the words in his mouth, slowly turning them over and over and over.

“Thank you.”

There was a softness Suzaku’s eyes that Lelouch hoped was sincerity.

When Nunnally was asked to make a wish as she blew out the single lit candle on her cake, she reached out for Suzaku and Lelouch, standing right beside her, and replied, “I already have my wish.”

And though it wasn't Lelouch's birthday, he stole a glance at Suzaku and and thought the same thing.


End file.
